For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Michele Tiffen
Miracles are seen or read throughout the Bible. In the NT Jesus healed many and also gave His disciples this gift when the Spirit fell upon them! They needed FAITH to perform these miracles.
Why do folk think that this no longer happens?Why would these miracles and wonders only happen in biblical times and not ours?
Has the Bible changed?
Is there a third testament?
Has God turned His back on us?
NO, NO AND NO!!!!
Jesus died for US, yes, Jesus thought you were to die for. He still gives us gifts and healing is still one of them.
I have been in a wheelchair for 17 months now and I know as a FACT that Jesus is working a great work on me! The doctors said I would never walk again. Well, guess what, I'm able to walk around my home with the aid of crutches and I WILL walk unaided! You may think I'm fooling myself, but I know our Lord has bigger and better plans for me. I trust Him, my faith is in Him. I talk with Him and when I cry out in pain, my leg actually goes cold and the pain is gone!
No, I'm not deluded, no, I'm not imagining it. I'm just using plain old faith to get me through one of the worst times of my life!
Of course there is still healing in this world. God loves us so much He sent His only Son to die for us. Do you really, seriously think He's going to leave us suffering? I THINK NOT!!!
Patricia Hall West Mulder
I am so grateful that God has chosen to work such wonders in your life! HE is great indeed! I have had Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Stage 3 Kidney Disease, had a heart attack, followed by a pacemaker implant and then a stroke in 2012 and still more medical issues and I'm only 53! For HIS own reasons, GOD has not seen fit to give me a healing from all of my medical ailments and I often wonder what kind of miracles HE is trying to work in either my or someone else's life. I have FAITH as you do that HE is using my life for HIS glory and sometimes, that is all that keeps me from crying through the pain. Thank you for reminding us that it is our FAITH in the FATHER, HIS SON, and THE HOLY GHOST that makes the difference in our physical and emotional condition. Praise HIS name!
James Kraft
Patricia, your faith is greater than mine. God has not seen fit to heal you, but you still trust Him. Though He slay me I will trust Him. God has used you to increase my faith.
And praise God Michele, I know that God does still work and heals some. Four years ago I died of a fatal heart attack. The Dr. said I had sudden death cardiac arrest. My heart stopped. Even though I was out away from town there was a doctor there to administer CPR. He kept me alive for 15 minutes until the EMT's got there and hit me with the defibrillator.
To make a long story short, my heart doctor says my heart looks like new at my last echo. I do not have to be on any medication as they put in a doner heart valve. I had no control over any of it and I knew that if the Lord did not intervene I was going to die on the operating table.
But I had the strangest peace come over me that I have ever had in my life while waiting for three days for open heart surgery. I did not care whether I lived or died because I knew I was in the hands of my savior who loved me and died for me. I have learned that what ever we go through our savior is there with us when we need Him. All I can do is praise Him. I had nothing to do with it. Salvation is of the Lord whether in healing or not healing.
My heart goes out to you Patricia. I know pain also as I lost my second son when He was only 42 years old. It ripped my heart out. But in the end I could say, the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the Lord.
Jennifer Rothnie
I used a walker for about 5 years when my health took a dive in my early 20's. I also struggled with pain, seizures, and twitching thousands of times a day. At first, losing the ability to walk without falling scared and depressed me. Yet about a month after I started using the walker, a Pastor gave a sermon on the first chapter of James and 'considering' trials to be joy.
Realizing that joy and contentment were mental choices, not emotional feelings, helped me find the joy and blessings in the trial. I started to notice all the things God was teaching me through it - such as empathy and reliance on Him. I also began to see the gifts and blessings in it, such as the free time to study scripture. God taught me far more about forgiveness, love, and trust through that period than I would have learned without it. When my health began to improve it was not a sudden healing, but a combination of spiritual growth, hard work in physical therapy, forgiving others and letting go of grudges, confessing sin, and letting trust of God overcome fears.
If God had suddenly healed me, then I would have missed out on countless blessings. I also wouldn't be able to relate as well or empathize well with others. Sometimes we think what we need is physical healing, when what God really wants for us is spiritual or emotional healing. A great book is 'Deadly Emotions' by Don Colbert, who writes how emotions, sin, or unforgiveness can actually exaggerate physical conditions.